Crossing our fingers into Cambodia and Sunrise at Angkor Wat

On route to the boarder which was about a 2 and a half hour drive, a guy on board collected our passports for a visa on arrival. 30 minutes short of the boarder he came back to us, returning our passport and telling us that because Sean only had 5 months 26 days validity on his passport we would not be able to go to Cambodia. 

I pleaded with him as we had made bookings, our flight was from there and online it says it’s up to their discrepancy, but he didn’t budge. Sean and I spent the next half hour cancelling accom, and desperately looking up new flights home from Vietnam.  He returned to us and I asked him once more to try.. He agreed, took our passports back and jumped off the bus at the boarder, whilst we anxiously waited to hear the outcome…

The man holding our fate and passports as to weather or not we would be allowed to enter into Cambodia retuned to us, demanding we quickly fill in the forms it was good news. We followed the rest of the bus exiting Vietnam and successfully entering Cambodia!! We then spent the next 3 hours of the drive to Phnom Penh trying to rebook the accommodation we had just cancelled, still counting our lucky stars to not have to purchase a new flight! 

Our bus arrived at about 4 in the We and we were lucky to have organised a free transfer to take us straight to our hostel. We followed the man with the sign ‘Sean duncan’ and jumped in his loud tuk tuk to navigate the city. Again the streets were filled with dust, chaos and crowds. We jumped off at 88 Hostel disappointed to find the pool in ‘construction’ (this being the reasons we booked the place)! The day had left us dishevelled, so we headed out for an early tasty dinner of curry at ‘Besto’, and home for bed. 

We decided on an underwhelming but convenient brekky at the hostel then agreed on a price with a tuk tuk, $20 USD to take us to a few places in Phnom Penh. We went to the Russian market which was much the same as most other markets so we quick to move on to our next stop, Genocide Museum; Sad, intense, moving and overwhelming.

We then asked to be dropped at central market which was a complete change of pace. Boasting innovative designs as apposed to rip off brands and traveller attire. Making a quick stop at air Asia to add luggage to our booking we then retired at a Mexican chain store for some tasty tacos and nachos. The drizzle became a down pour and we took a taxi home to avoid the wet, and called it an eve. 

In the morning we were picked up at half 7, Siem reap bound! We were packed into a mini bus and drew the short straw with back seats. Two of the 6 hour drive was on a horribly bumpy and uncomfortable road bouncing us off our seats and sliding us sideways. We were happy to get out bus and check into our pretty fancy hotel complete with a pool. We spent the afternoon there, splashing about until the rain chased us away and we went by foot in search of dinner. Trip adviser lied about a restaurant around the corner and after walking for an hour we found cheap msg filled noodles for a starter, finishing off with a burger and a curry! 

The next morning we set our alarm for 5am, waking us to a downpour of rain we opted to cancel our tuk tuk and take our chances with seeing the sunrise at ankor wat the next day. We lazed about the pool all day & headed out for a coffee & lunch in a beautiful two story café. Heading back to the hotel, we played cards until it got dark & our stomachs grumbled, then decided to not take our chances trying to find a non-existent restaurant again, so settled on the hotel restaurant. Not surprisingly, we were the only patrons there, but enjoyed a nice seafood noodle dish & salad along with an ice cold beer. We arranged a tuk tuk for the drive to Angkor for our second attempt in the morning - at the ungodly hour of 4am - then headed to bed for an early night.

After our sleep was abruptly interrupted by both of our alarms, we stumbled out of our comfy hotel bed & headed out in our tuk tuk towards the ancient city of Angkor. Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia, & we couldn’t wait to witness the sunrise at the temple of Angkor Wat - a massive tick off the bucket list. We pulled up, walked along a bridge & waited next to a pond overlooking the ancient, behemoth building, along with hundreds of others, cameras at the ready. 

The sun began to peek through from behind the temple at 4:30, & really showed it’s incredible beauty at around 4:45. The sight left us speechless, the sky was alive with vibrant pinks, oranges & greys, with Angkor Wat foreshadowed & the beautiful pink floating garden in the foreground.

We then headed on to the breathtaking Bayon, followed by the Baphuon and lastly onto the Phimeanakas. We had aimed to cover more but unfortunately found ourselves running out of time so called it a day in time to go home and pack.

A quick last dip in our pool and we set off to catch a bus to return to Phnom Penh. After (somehow) having a much needed sleep on a extremely bumpy bus, we arrived back in Phnom Penh. Checking into our quite nice hotel, we wasted no time in heading up to the rooftop pool. We were not disappointed with the sweeping views of the city, & pool bar stocked with cold beer. The only thing that got us out of the water were a couple of yabby looking creatures swimming around alongside us!! After sun baking for a little while, we returned to our room for a hot shower & each wrapped up in our rooms giant bath robes. We headed out for dinner to a restaurant called Lucky Phó, & had a tasty, spicy phó! We retreated to the hotel, & our massive bed, ready for a sea change the next morning.

After a little bit more of a sleep in than the morning before, we packed our bags & headed back to our original hostel to board a shuttle bound for the costal town of Sihanoukville!